The invention is concerned with remote control of audio components, video tape recorders and other such electronic components. In particular, the invention relates to enhancements of the operation of the remote features of such components by enabling them to be controlled when contained in a closed cabinet.
Televisions, video tape players, compact disc players and other stereo equipment are widely available as remotely controllable components. These electronic appliances or components generally are contained in a cabinet in the owner's home. In the case of a television, the doors normally must be open when the television is being used, so that no problem is presented regarding the ability of the television's remote sensor to receive the signal from the hand held remote control unit. However, in the case of stereo components and VCRs, it is generally desirable aesthetically to have the cabinet doors closed during the use of these components; it is an inconvenience to have to leave the cabinet doors open to avoid optical blocking of the infrared remote signal by the cabinet.
A related problem to which the invention is addressed is the ability to use infrared remote control devices over relatively long distances or in non-direct line of sight environments such as between adjacent rooms in a building. IR remote control systems installed as features in production electronic equipment do not have enough sensitivity to operate in such extended range requirements.
In the past, one solution to this problem has been to send control signals over an electrical wire from one room to another, converting signals from IR to electrical and back to IR. Another approach has been to convert the IR to RF and back to IR, thus enhancing distance. A third approach has been to increase the power output of the IR at the remote control device.
The above solutions have many other factors involved that reduce their system transparency in operation. The wire up-down conversion requires an IR receiver within close proximity to the user, thus restricting the user's movement only to locations which relay the signal to its destination.
The radio up-down conversion method has the above limiting factor, i.e. the user must be near an IR detector, if, for example, the IR receiver/radio transmitter is plugged into a wall. If the IR to radio conversion is battery-powered and attaches to the remote control, there is an inability to readily use multiple remote controls, the battery requires periodic replacement, and the combination is aesthetically unpleasant. These devices also have an antenna and a power cord on the RF receiving end, usually designed to sit across from the equipment to be controlled, again being very unsightly.
The power increase module is also a battery operated device that mounts onto the front of the remote control, and therefore carries with it the same problems as noted above for the radio transmitter, i.e. batteries, single remote use, and aesthetically unpleasant.
As one can see by looking at each of these previous approaches, although the distance enhancement and room-to-room service can be increased, the user adds some negative features to his system as well.
The following U.S. patents describe various aspects of remote control devices, typically using an infrared signal to control televisions, stereo components and other electronic appliances: Dockery U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,397, Geiger U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,534, Nishio U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,279, Hermann U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,803, Amano U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,052, Amano U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,691, Baur U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,880.
The Geiger patent describes a system which receives signals in a television and distributes instructions to a VCR as based on inputs by the user as to what he selects. The TV creates the instructions for the VCR. In other words, the television acts as a receiver, in a sense as a repeater, but it also serves as a receiver and encoder/decoder. On the other hand, the present invention, described below, involves simply a repeater that is not part of any appliance and which does not encode or decode. It simply repeats, and the environment in which it is used is different from Geiger's. The present device carries a signal inside a closed cabinet by use of the repeater.
The Dockery patent differs from the present invention in that it shows a range extender for infrared remote control devices, via RF transmission. The RF transmitter is positioned outside the cabinet and possibly in another room from the components. The receiver is apparently near the components but probably has to be outside the cabinet if more than one component is involved, since it would not be positioned to service all components.
The Baur patent has little relevance to this invention, disclosing fluorescing signals generated optically from infrared, for a different purpose.
Amano Patent No. 4,807,052 discloses a system primarily concerned with decoding data and separating functions for several remotely controlled devices.
The Hermann patent uses some components similar to those used in this invention, but has a different system arrangement and a different purpose. The goal of the Hermann system is to allow remote signals generated by persons in several different rooms with televisions, to be received in the room transmitted and then to be picked up in a box in the TV room and sent via wires to another location in the building, possibly outside, to a device which retransmits the same infrared signal to control a VCR, antenna position and/or satellite dish position. The Hermann patent does not involve a cabinet which would block the IR remote signal receivers contained on components, and the retransmitter device is not hidden inside a cabinet. The Hermann patent does not recognize the problem of a closed cabinet as blocking the receipt of infrared remote signals, even though the patent discloses use of some of the same infrared transmitter components as in the present invention. In other words, the Hermann patent is more concerned with distant components which are located possibly in another portion of the building or outside the building, and the extending of range to operate those components, which is done by wire. Thus, the patent is concerned with enabling the control of antenna position, satellite position, VCR setting, etc., from any of a plurality of rooms with television sets, i.e. accessing the antenna and other devices from different televisions.
The Nishio patent discloses a system which does not include any receiving eye separated for placement in a closed cabinet. The system is primarily concerned with differentiating between codes for operation of different devices, which might be identical to each other. The system enables a person to input a specific code to a receiver/transmitter device, for instructing the device to operate the intended one of a plurality of similar appliances.
Amano Patent No. 4,394,691 discloses a remote control system which does not provide a single concealed infrared receiving eye, but discloses the use of multiple receiving eyes. The patent is primarily concerned with bussing decoded signals. The patent is not concerned with closed cabinets or the ability to receive signals when a cabinet blocks an appliance's infrared receiver.